You’ll say you don’t have time to watch this.
It’s 13 minutes.
You need to move on to the next post.

And I’m telling you that
this woman is something special.

Don’t quit on this one.
Take it to the finish.

Good Sunday Morning.

Megan Alexandra Washington, 28, was born in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. She is an Australian musician and songwriter also known mononymously as Washington. Originally performing jazz music her style evolved to indie pop and alternative rock where she sings and plays piano and guitar. She developed a stutter early in her life and continues to struggle with her speech. Find her website here: washingtonmusic.com.au. Find her album on iTunes here: I Believe You Liar

“The snowflake moment we idolize, that final and glorious crystalline state which Bentley captured on black velvet time and time again, does provide justification for everything else. It is the end, and so must mean something, must make a bold statement about the substance and quality of our existence. But the snowflake moment is just one of a countless million moments, an isolated still shot of an existence that is predominantly defined by its very motion. We are what we do every day. Nothing more.

This is a follow-up on my earlier post on public speaking (“Odds are that you have Glossophobia“). Whenever I think of public speaking, I’m drawn to a story on George Carlin. Many outside the industry lauded his ability to get on stage and “wing it.” Reality was something altogether different. He was well known among fellow comics for repetition, practice and continually working to better his act. To prep for each one of his TV shows, he would give 150 live stand-up performances over 2 years to help him refine his material. 150 performance performances to prep for 1 TV show!

If you are starting out and looking for self-book books to help you with public speaking, I would start with “How to Give a Pretty Good Presentation” by T.J. Walker. I would then move to one of the best resources on the subject: “Confessions of a Public Speaker” by Scott Berkun. You can find my full review on Amazon which I’ve titled: “Nails it.” The success factors seem to follow this rough outline: Prepare. (Underscore prepare.) Know your material. Practice. (Underscore practice.) Keep it interesting – tell human interest stories. Be authentic – have a conversation. Stay within your allotted time line. And remember, even the best speakers get butterflies before performances.

I’ve added a few of my favorite excerpts below from Scott Berkun’s book below:

“…when 100 people are listening to you for an hour, that’s 100 hours of people’s time devoted to what you have to say. If you can’t spend 5 or 10 hours preparing for them, thinking about them, and refining your points to best suit their needs, what does that say about your respect for your audience’s time? It says that your 5 hours are more important than 100 of theirs, which requires an ego larger than the entire solar system. And there is no doubt this disrespect will be obvious once you are on the stage.”

Jerry Seinfeld: “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.”

I didn’t know that the fear of public speaking was a phobia called Glossophobia. “Glossa means tongue and phobos stands for fear or dread.” I learned this and 7 other fun facts on the subject from a post called “Fear of Public Speaking Statistics.” FACT ONE: Surveys show that most people would rather die instead of talking in front of a live audience. This is a global fears top ten: